Insufficient balance

  The person has arrived, and only then did Qingshu walk over slowly. Today, Qingshu was specially dressed up, wearing a plain white dress that made her look so noble and pure, like an immortal fairy.

  She walked up to the podium, and in a clear and crisp voice said: "Today my father has something on and cannot come, so he specially let me come, hoping that everyone can forgive him. Next, I hope everyone will have fun at today's banquet." After Qinger finished speaking, there was applause from below.

  There were several self-proclaimed extraordinary guys who came forward and tried to get close to Qingyue, and they made a strong show of themselves. Although Qingyue was very disgusted with them, she didn't show it. At the same time, Qingyue also secretly looked around, wondering why she couldn't see Mosheng anywhere. Wen Hao was chatting enthusiastically with several girls, but where was he? She then looked around at several secluded corners and finally found Mosheng in one of them, seeing him sitting with his eyes closed, looking like he didn't care about anything. Qingyue got angry just looking at him, he didn't even give her any face, not even a glance, did he know that she had dressed up especially today? Humph! Qingyue was very angry now, so she wanted revenge, and Mosheng would have to pay the price for his actions.

  Mo Sheng's internal energy was circulating smoothly, and he felt a slight improvement. A thread of joy emerged in his heart. Unbeknownst to him, he had already been remembered with hatred by a woman.

  Qingyu said a few words to the young master, who showed a pleased expression on his face. He then walked up onto the stage and addressed the crowd: "Earlier, Miss Qingyu proposed that in order to enrich today's banquet, we will proceed with linked poetry. Those who cannot respond will serve tea and pour water for everyone. Although the punishment is not severe, it is also a loss of face. I think all of you are people with dignity and reputation in the Huanyuan Prefecture, and surely do not want to lose face because of this? Next, I will begin."

  Then, starting from this self-proclaimed young master, the former spoke a sentence and the latter responded with one, each sentence had to be harmonious in meaning and tone. The many talented scholars were not willing to lose face, they rubbed their fists and palms, hoping to show off their skills here, and thus have the good fortune of getting the favor of a certain young lady.

  The linked poem is proceeding in an orderly manner, and Mu Sheng is doing his best to give Xiang Ling a better treatment tonight. He tries to be undisturbed by external objects and focuses on his cultivation with all his heart and soul.

  Suddenly, he felt someone calling him, "Young Master, Young Master, it's your turn." A decent-looking girl kindly reminded him, and Mo Sheng woke up from his cultivation, asking somewhat puzzled: "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, please explain, miss."

  The girl looked at Mu Sheng in surprise, wondering if he still didn't know what was going on. She had thought he was meditating with his eyes closed, looking confident and self-assured. Could it be that he was actually sleeping just now? The girl found this person hard to understand, but out of politeness, she said: "Everyone is reciting linked poetry now, it's your turn. If you can't answer, you'll have to serve tea for everyone." After the girl finished speaking, she looked at Mu Sheng, and the people around her also turned their attention to him. The linked poetry had stopped here, just when everyone was getting into the swing of things! Those who hadn't had a turn yet were preparing to make a big show, but this guy... what's wrong with him? Could it be that he couldn't answer? That would be hilarious! The young masters around them looked at Mu Sheng with all sorts of thoughts in mind.

  Mo Sheng didn't panic, he stood up calmly and said: "I'm a nobody, a small person. I don't know how to answer this poem, if you need someone to pour tea or water, just call me." After finishing speaking, he sat down again. Mo Sheng's words made the surrounding geniuses excited. Only by highlighting others' incompetence can one show off their own talent. However, some people thought that this guy was too careless about his own face, losing face in this situation would make it difficult to chase girls later. But on the other hand, they also lost a rival. Some people even thought that this guy wasn't worthy of being their opponent.

  Mo Sheng sat in the morning smile, ignoring those geniuses. In high school, she had memorized many poems and was more than enough to deal with such occasions. However, she didn't want to plagiarize others, it wasn't hers to use, wouldn't that be losing face? And what's the value of face, compared to Xiang Ling, that face is just a grain in the ocean, so Mo Sheng didn't pay much attention to face.

  Since ancient times, Chinese people have been fond of saving face. A small matter of face often leads to many troubles, but Mu Sheng's heart is very calm and quiet, as if he has a detached view of the world. The worldly concept of face makes no difference to him whether he wants it or not. In fact, being honest and overcoming one's own bad desires, while maintaining good integrity, can be called "being an upright person with a clear conscience in the world."

  She didn't expect Mu Sheng to be so reckless with his own dignity, she felt like she couldn't understand this person, and had no idea what he was thinking in his heart. A wave of annoyance rose up inside her, and she excused herself on the grounds of physical discomfort to retreat to the rear cabin's lounge.

  In another corner, the woman in purple was also surprised. She did not expect Mr. En to be so frank, without regard for his own dignity. However, she felt that Mr. En didn't seem like an incompetent person, and wondered if there was something he couldn't say. Ah, Mr. En! You are the first person who has made me, Ouyang Yan, feel interested. I think we will meet again in the future. Then she said to her maid beside her: "Cui Zhu, let's go."

  The literary man who was trying to curry favor with the young lady heard Mu Sheng's words and his jaw dropped. This, this Mu brother is indeed worthy of being called Mu brother. He doesn't care about losing face either, but he himself doesn't have such guts. If he lost face here, there would be no hope for him to chase girls in the future.

  Many people, after the incident with Mu Sheng, continued to recite poetry as usual. However, for some young masters, things became disappointing and dull afterwards. Because Miss Qing had left, they had come specifically for her, and without her, their enthusiasm greatly diminished. For most people, however, their goal was to pursue many of the misses, because they knew it was hopeless to chase after Miss Qing, so they set their sights on other misses instead. As for punishing Mu Sheng, no one did anything about it, because everyone was trying to impress the misses and didn't want to be seen as hitting someone while they were down. As a result, Mu Sheng remained seated with his eyes closed, cultivating his spirit, and no one bothered him, which was exactly what he wanted.

  The banquet finally came to an end, with joy and sorrow. Some people were excitedly showing off in front of the young lady, while others sighed with regret for not being able to catch her eye.

  Looking at the distant figure of Mu Sheng, Qian Jing felt a sudden pang of melancholy for no reason. She didn't know what she was feeling about Mu Sheng now, but she really wanted someone to comfort her. However, being ignored by him made her very angry, yet she couldn't do anything about it. Sighing, she decided to go back and rest, but the image of that person kept appearing in her mind - that guy who was meditating with his eyes closed looked more and more detestable.

  "Brother Mu is really something, he dares to say that and isn't afraid of losing face."

  "Face is worth only a few dollars, as long as you have a clear conscience, do things honestly and sincerely, what's the big deal? Face is just an empty and elusive desire."

  "Brother Mo, your words are too profound, I don't understand." Wen Hao said with a chuckle.

  "It doesn't matter if you don't understand, let's just hurry up and go!" Musen said nonchalantly.

  Wen Hao couldn't figure out why Mu Sheng was in such a hurry, but he didn't ask. His big brother Mu had always been mysterious. In the end, Wen Hao didn't return through his own front door; to save his ears, he had to go back through the rear garden of Mu Sheng's house.

  After a day of rest, Xiangling's pain had eased a lot. Dinner was spent in a pleasant atmosphere, and after the three old men finished eating, they chatted in the pavilion in the backyard garden, with thirty years of separation, many things couldn't be said at once.

  Xiao Lü ran to the backyard to listen to the stories of three old men after putting away the bowls and chopsticks. Her grandmother was very fond of her, looking at this half-grown girl, she couldn't help but feel a little pity in her heart. Xiao Lü had no parents since childhood, always staying with her mistress, snuggling in her grandmother's arms, feeling so happy and contented.

  Musheng won't be as idle as them, after finishing the miscellaneous tasks and returning to the room with Xiangling. Musheng pulled Xiangling to the bedside and said: "Linger, you also heard what Grandfather Sima said today, now I'm going to force you to take off your outerwear."

  "But, husband, Master Sima said it's very dangerous for you." Xiangling said with some concern.

  "Ling'er, don't you have confidence in your husband?" Mu Sheng said with a smile.

  "Not necessarily, but..." Xiang Ling was interrupted by Mu Sheng before she could finish speaking: "Don't worry! Ling'er, if I'm not certain, I won't do it."

  Xiang Ling knew that saying anything was useless, so she had no choice but to follow Mu Sheng's orders, taking off her coat and sitting on the bed in her underclothes. Although they were already husband and wife, Xiang Ling still felt a little shy.

  At this time, Mu Sheng didn't dare to tease Xiang Ling anymore. With a stern expression, he sat behind her, adjusted his state, and slowly circulated his internal energy. He placed both palms on Xiang Ling's back. At this moment, Xiang Ling didn't dare move at all, knowing that if she moved, it would have a great impact on Mu Sheng's technique.

  Slowly, the inner force flowed into Xiang Ling's body, and she felt a wave of heat. The hot flow continued to surge upwards. Mu Sheng's inner force was rotating at high speed, constantly flowing into Xiang Ling's body. The hot flow flowed towards Xiang Ling's face. Under the pressure of the inner force, the toxins on her right cheek began to seep out from the tiny pores, while Mu Sheng was drenched in sweat, apparently exhausting too much inner force. If not for the Ren and Du meridians being unblocked, he might not have been able to withstand such exhaustion.